


Now You Are Standing at My Door

by sorteparaplyer



Series: Weight Gain [7]
Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Belly Kink, Belly worship, Chubby Klaus Hargreeves, Eating, Fat Klaus Hargreeves, Feeding Kink, Feedism, Fit/fat, M/M, Maintenance Kink, Praise Kink, Stuffing, Weight Gain
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-25
Updated: 2020-08-19
Packaged: 2021-03-04 03:14:41
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,955
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24906673
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sorteparaplyer/pseuds/sorteparaplyer
Summary: Domestic life with Dave is making Klaus chubby
Relationships: Dave/Klaus Hargreeves
Series: Weight Gain [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1450702
Comments: 27
Kudos: 154





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I lied about being caught up on posting stuff don't mind me

The house is modest but it’s cute and it’s perfect for them. There’s a nice bathtub, set into an alcove of powder blue tiles, and a sunny backyard with a flourishing strawberry patch. 

They could easily fence the backyard in, Dave thinks, if they ever decided to get a dog. Klaus agrees a dog might be nice someday, but he would be concerned for the fate of the strawberry patch. 

It’s all so soft and domestic, so _easy_ , that Klaus can hardly stand it. He still can’t believe they made it here, made it out of the war alive.

They pretend to be cousins in order to buy the house. Klaus takes Dave’s surname, fashions himself a little backstory to help sell the character. He’s not too broken up over letting go of the Hargreeves name, and anyways, Dave’s more real in this timeline than he is. 

It’s lucky that the realtor buys the story they spin. Dave has always passed easily but Klaus… he has a little more trouble playing straight. Or rather, he’s prone to forgetting to try. It’s been one of the more challenging things about taking up residence in the past. By the same token, however, he’s found there’s a fair bit people overlook before they start to get suspicious. It’s not a conclusion anyone seems to jump to very quickly. 

He does miss being able to wear makeup, but it’s a small price to pay to have a life here. They’re happy and they’re luckier than most. Especially Klaus.

He has a mortgage now. It’s unbelievable.

Dave works at the general store in town. There’s a little woodworking shop in the back where he’s begun building tables and chairs when business in the store is slow. It makes Klaus’ heart clench to think about Dave hard at work putting together someone’s dining room furniture. To imagine the memories other families are making around the table Dave built with his bare hands. 

He loves the smell of sawdust on Dave when he comes home in the evening. Loves the feel of Dave’s callused, competent hands on him.

Klaus has a harder time finding a slot to fit into. His resume consists of superhero, junkie, and soldier. That doesn’t leave many options in the classifieds. For now it’s a diner job. He flips burgers and cranks out waffles for minimal pay. It’s not glamorous but he does enjoy it. He gets to talk to lots of people and he’s allowed to eat as many waffles as he wants. 

Plus being in the diner reminds him of his brothers and sisters. As they were as kids, that is, when they used to sneak out to get donuts. Those are the days he prefers to look back on when he thinks about his family. Otherwise his chest aches with guilt for having left them to die in the apocalypse. Otherwise he can’t help but question why he should get to live. Why should _he_ be the one to escape that fate and find a long, happy life with someone he loves? 

Classic survivor’s guilt, he knows, but he can’t help feeling sometimes like he turned his back on them. But then, they turned their backs on him first, didn’t they? Or maybe it _was_ him, a time before that.

Dave struggles with the same thing, Klaus knows, except he wonders why he got to come home when so many of his friends did not. Klaus never has an answer for him, because war is senseless and brutal and unfair. He knows sometimes Dave feels guilty, not just for making it out alive, but for making it out with Klaus. Like Klaus is an honor he didn’t earn. Or a precious jewel that Dave found in the muck and shouldn’t have been allowed to keep. Klaus knows he’s no jewel, but he tries his hardest to help Dave believe he deserves to be happy.

It’s not always as easy as it had seemed when they bought the house. They have to learn how to be around each other without a war going on. How to solve problems that seem both terribly mundane and extremely important. But it’s not too hard by any means. Klaus finds that he’s actually a decent boyfriend when he has someone worth the effort.

Dave usually makes dinner in the evenings. He has the advantage of not being in a kitchen all day at work, and also he knows that Klaus loves when he cooks for him. Dave’s cooking is the closest he can safely get to a high nowadays, Klaus says. Dave laughs when he says it, but it’s a strange laugh mixed with pride and sadness. 

At the end of the day, they’ve carved out a pleasant life for themselves. Sometimes Klaus thinks the most miraculous thing about it is that someone like him can be so happy with a life like this.

That someone like Dave can be so happy with someone like him.

Dave never stops touching him like he’s something precious, just like he did when he first pulled him close in the dancehall. He’s always kind to him, always sweet. Always understands that some ghosts stay with you even after you leave the warzone.

Other ghosts, Klaus has finally learned to let dissolve into the humidity of the bathroom. 

He pulls the stopper and steps out of the bathtub. The water drains as he wraps a towel around his chest. 

In the bedroom, Dave is already under the covers, leaning back against a stack of pillows. He looks up from his magazine when Klaus walks in. “Hey,” he smiles.

“Hey.” Klaus drops the towel and strikes a suggestive pose. “Am I still more appealing than _Fine Woodworking_?”

Dave laughs, setting aside the magazine. “Much more.”

“Does my fine body have your wood working?”

Dave just rolls his eyes and pulls back the covers on Klaus’ side of the bed. “Come here.”

Klaus crawls onto the bed and leans down to kiss him. He shivers when he feels Dave’s palms glide over his sides.

“You know,” Dave says. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but. You’ve filled out a lot since we moved in here.” He pauses to press kisses to Klaus’ jaw. “I mean, I liked you plenty when you were thin and scrawny but… I like you more like this. Love how substantial you feel when I hold you.”

Klaus draws back in mock horror. “Dave! Are you calling me fat?”

“Not fat. Just a little thicker. Healthier.”

Klaus considers it, gives a shrug. “I _have_ been eating a lot of waffles at the diner.”

“It’s doing you good.”

“You’re sure?”

Dave leans up to kiss his lips. “Very sure.”

Klaus hooks a leg over so that he’s straddling him. He bounces a little on his lap for good measure. “I’m not too heavy for you?”

Dave rolls them over in one fluid motion, pinning Klaus to the mattress beneath him. “Definitely not.”

Klaus grins and opens his mouth to Dave’s.


	2. Chapter 2

A few months later, Klaus is certain that his stomach has not just softened but has begun to round out. His hips are looking a little thicker too. And his face is starting to look fuller, or is he imagining that? Maybe, but his stomach definitely curves outward.

He doesn’t even want to turn around and see how his ass looks in the mirror.

It’s one thing to fill out. He had agreed with Dave that that was an improvement. But this is… spilling out. His pants are pulling at his waist uncomfortably, creating little bulges of flesh where he’s gotten the softest. Klaus yanks his shirt on and goes to find Dave.

He’s in the kitchen making breakfast, the fucker, of course he is.

“ _Dave_ ,” Klaus whines.

“What’s the matter, babe? Breakfast is almost ready.”

“Dave, my pants don’t fit. I’m getting a belly. The seventies are making me fat.”

Dave shuts off the burner and turns to face him. “What are you talking about? You look fine.”

“Oh, do you really think so?” Klaus says sarcastically. “ _Look_ at this.” He pulls up his shirt and unbuttons his pants, shoves the waistband down his hips. Angry red lines trace around the skin of his stomach, marking the place where the waistband squeezed too tightly. There’s a small but obvious bulge of flesh there, enough for Klaus to pinch.

“So your pants are a little small,” Dave says, sounding a touch too casual. “It’s not the end of the world.”

“Obviously not!” Klaus throws his hands out and rolls his eyes heavenward. “I was skinny when it was the end of the world!”

“So you... agree?”

“No! Yes! I don’t know!” He heaves a sigh. “Come here.” He grabs Dave’s hand and puts it on the lower curve of his stomach. “See? I have a belly.”

Dave takes a shuddering breath as he spreads his palm over the slight mound. “Well, who cares?” he says, a little thickly. “You’re happy, _we’re_ happy. We have everything we ever wanted in life, right? Why not enjoy simple pleasures like good food and a full belly?”

Klaus thinks about it. Dave does have a point. And isn’t he the one always telling Dave to let himself be happy? Then he notices Dave still absently rubbing his hand over his stomach. Dave’s breathing is a little too stilted, his eyes too intent. 

Klaus experimentally pushes his stomach out, forcing his belly further into Dave’s hand. Dave practically gasps, instinctively curling his fingers into Klaus’ doughy pooch. “Dave! You’re fucking turned on right now!” Klaus accuses.

Dave smiles sheepishly and lets out a ragged breath. “It just looks good on you, Klaus. Being soft… it suits you.”

“You’re insane.”

“Am I? Have you seen yourself?”

“I saw myself spilling out of my pants for damn sure.”

“You should’ve taken your pants off and looked. I told you, they’re just too small.”

“Oh.”

“Come sit down for breakfast.”

That night Klaus pulls off his shirt and takes down his pants. He thinks maybe Dave is right, that the bulge of his belly doesn’t look so bad when it’s not being squeezed by a tight waistband. Klaus still isn’t sure why Dave likes it, but maybe it’s just hard to see his body look different from what he’s used to. 

He pokes himself, watches the slight wobble of his flesh. He _is_ very soft. And really, it’s kind of nice to have his sharp edges smoothed over. He’s not a person with very many sharp edges anymore, at least not compared to who he was before. It certainly isn’t the worst thing that could have happened to him. So Klaus just shrugs and draws himself a bath.

As he sits in the hot water he thinks back to how Dave’s breath had caught when he touched him, how intently he had looked at him. It reminds Klaus of the time when their relationship was new, when they were both desperate to get their rocks off in case they didn’t make it to tomorrow.

Being wanted like that—in a way that was worshipful, earnest—it had been new to Klaus back then. And it had made him feel so special, so desirable. Even now he loves that Dave touches him like he’s something precious, like he’s _soft_.

He remembers how Dave touched his stomach earlier, how his eyes had turned dark with want, kneading as if that little bit of dough was something so tantalizing. And Dave did find it tantalizing, Klaus realizes. Dave had been so adamant that Klaus should enjoy the pleasures of eating and being full.

Well, Klaus _knew_ people in his past life, all sorts of people, and he has some idea of what this is and what it’s supposed to look like. If it’s something Dave likes… He feels a thrill in his stomach at the idea of pleasing Dave, of indulging his arousal and finding out where it would lead them. Klaus has always liked to eat. It would be no hardship to experiment with Dave’s interest.

“Dave.” Klaus wraps his arms around him from behind, nuzzles against the back of Dave’s neck. “ _Dave_ ,” he purrs. “Will you cook for me?”

Dave puts his hands over Klaus’. “Of course I will, baby. What do you want me to make you?”

Klaus bites lightly at the slope of his shoulder. “What do you want to feed me?”

“Oh. _Oh_.”

Klaus smiles at the little shudder in Dave’s breath. He runs a hand down Dave’s stomach and thumbs open his pants. Just in case Dave needs a little help thinking in the right direction.

“I could make you a lasagna,” Dave says. He’s leaning back against Klaus, letting his hips cant up towards Klaus’ hand. “Would you like that?”

Klaus closes his hand over Dave’s cock, begins stroking gently. “How much of it do you think I could eat?”

“Maybe, maybe a quarter of it?”

“What if you helped me? Rubbed my belly when I got full, encouraged me to keep eating?”

Dave lets out a gasp. “Then, uh. Maybe half? Half the lasagna.”

“And some bread?” Klaus starts working Dave harder. “I mean, my stomach would be pretty packed by then, but you have to have garlic bread with lasagna, right, Dave?”

“Klaus.” Another shudder. “You’re filthy.”

“No, you’re filthy, Dave,” Klaus smiles. “You’re about to come from this.”

Dave takes Klaus’ hand and turns around to kiss him. “Would rather fuck you,” he says.

Klaus giggles. “Then fuck me, Dave. And make me a lasagna.”

Dave does make him a lasagna. It’s ready for him when he comes home from work the next night.

A slow smirk spreads across Klaus’ face once he spots it. “Well, well _well_. You sly bastard, Dave,” he laughs.

Dave smiles, looking a little unsure of himself. “I thought we could, ah, try out what we talked about yesterday. If you’re still interested?”

Klaus levels him with a lascivious look. “You mean do I want to eat a delicious dinner and turn my boyfriend on?”

Dave pinks a little, the angel. “Would it turn you on too, Klaus?”

“I don’t know,” Klaus answers honestly. Then he grins. “Shall we try it and see, mon amour?”

That seems to satisfy Dave, whose smile comes a little more easily then. “I’ll, um, cut you a piece then. Go sit down.”

Klaus slides into his chair at the table as Dave busies himself in the cupboard behind him.

The table and the two chairs around it were made by Dave as one of his first woodworking projects. They’re not a shining example of the work he can do now, but it’s been good sturdy furniture for them. A testament to Dave’s ability to set himself a task and complete it. Klaus has always admired that about him, even as it sent him chasing Dave to the front lines.

Dave offered to make them another dining room set once, a better one that reflected the growth in his skills. But Klaus likes this one. It’s fitting for the home they bought when they started their lives together.

And the table appears to be holding up just fine under the truly massive piece of lasagna Dave places in front of him.

His face must say it all because Dave hesitates. “Is it too much?” he asks.

Klaus shoots him a wicked look. “Isn’t that what we’re here to find out?”

Dave smiles, a little bashfully. “There’s bread too,” he says. “Do you want some?”

“Oh, you know I do, Dave.”

Klaus watches as Dave sets a piece of garlic bread on his plate, then pours him a big glass of milk. Probably another cause of his weight gain—Dave’s insistence that whole-fat milk is a necessary mealtime beverage. Dave puts a fork on the table and tucks a napkin beneath the rim of the plate. Then he steps back, apparently satisfied with the table setting.

“So how is this supposed to go exactly?” Klaus asks.

“I don’t really know,” Dave says. He gives a nervous laugh, his hand going to the back of his neck. “This is new to me.”

Klaus shakes out the napkin and drapes it over his lap with a flourish. “Well, then why don’t you just watch me eat and we’ll see how it goes, okay?”

Dave nods and Klaus starts eating, scooping big forkfuls into his mouth and downing big gulps of milk. He feels a little awkward, like he’s putting on a performance he hasn’t memorized. For a fleeting second he worries that this will be a bust, that they’ll have to laugh it off and finish dinner like normal. But it’s impossible to miss the growing intensity in the way Dave is staring at him, how he seems so transfixed just watching Klaus take bite after bite.

Klaus chews, swallows. “What do you like about this?” he asks.

“I don’t know. I guess… you nourishing yourself.” Dave pulls in a shaky breath. “Getting healthier. Getting more than healthy, getting big. Eating until you’re soft and round and heavy.”

Klaus lets out a giggle, pitched high with the thrill of discovery. “You’re one fucked up bastard, Dave, you know that?”

Dave winces. “I—”

“I’m kidding, Dave,” he says quickly. “Sorry. It’s just sweet that you want me to be soft.” Klaus can’t help but laugh again. “It’s so innocent. Can’t believe I wound up with someone as sweet as you.”

Dave smiles, but it looks reluctant and unsure.

Klaus frowns. “Hey, hey, hey. Did I fuck up?” he asks. “I’m really sorry, Dave, I didn’t mean to make light of what you’re into. I just think it’s cute!”

“No,” Dave says. “It’s not that. It’s just, ah, it’s not always as innocent as you think it is. Not to me anyways.”

Klaus raises an eyebrow. “Oh? Pray tell?”

“I… want to see you push yourself. Watch you keep eating even after you’re achingly full. Just because you love it so much and you love how fat all the food is gonna make you.”

“Alright, Dave, now we’re getting somewhere!”

“I want- I want to push you. Feed you more than you think you can handle, push you to get fatter than you could get on your own.”

“Christ, Dave,” Klaus breathes. “Now _that’s_ hot. You gonna take control for me, decide how much I eat, decide when I get to be done?”

“Y-yeah,” Dave says. “That’s exactly what I’m gonna do.”

Klaus pushes what’s left of the plate of lasagna to Dave. “Then do it.”

“Really?” 

“Yes.”

Dave stands up from the table. “Then I want you to get nice and comfortable on the couch. I’ll be in after I cut you another piece.”

“Don’t mind if I do.”

Klaus settles onto the couch, feeling a thrill in his stomach at the idea of Dave having his way with him. He’s pretty full, truth be told, but he’s not nearly ready to end whatever game it is that they’ve begun. And anyways, it sounds like his full belly is all a part of it.

A few minutes later, Dave comes in carrying Klaus’ dinner and a TV tray. He sets it up nearby and sits down next to Klaus. “Let’s just get you comfortable first,” Dave says, reaching out to unbutton and unzip Klaus’ fly.

Klaus is sure his belly bulges out just a little as his pants open. “Shiiit,” he moans, putting a hand to the curve of his stomach. “Should’ve done that way earlier.”

“Still think you can keep going?” Dave presses his fingers into Klaus’ belly, prodding along the sides as though he’s assessing how full Klaus is.

Klaus burps, which makes his stomach feel a little better. “Yeah, I think so,” he says.

“Tell me if you want to stop, okay?”

“I will.”

Then Dave starts feeding him forkfuls of lasagna. He starts to feel awkward again, like he’s a baby being spoon-fed, but then he remembers what Dave said earlier, how he wanted to be the one feeding him, pushing him. Deciding how much he eats and how fat he gets.

So Klaus keeps eating, and soon he’s feeling the strain on his stomach, the way his gut begins to feel so heavy and each swallow seems to sit too shallowly. His hands go to his belly, rubbing the swell of his stomach to try to ease the pressure on it. He burps again, but it doesn’t help as much as he’d like. All he can do is chew and swallow and moan, and accept the forkful that Dave crams into his open mouth.

Dave must know that he’s struggling. He can clearly see how much Klaus has slowed down, how reluctantly he’s swallowing each mouthful. And yet Klaus keeps accepting more, so Dave keeps shoveling it in.

“You’re doing so well, baby,” Dave croons. He lays his palm over Klaus’ belly, begins to rub his stomach. Klaus groans in relief at the feeling of Dave’s fingers working over his swollen gut. “You almost- you almost ate the whole piece. Can you eat a little more for me? Finish it off?”

Klaus nods, opens his mouth for another bite.

“That’s it, big boy. Just a little more.”

Klaus chews, swallows. Lets out a low moan.

“Your stomach looks so big, Klaus. I can’t believe you fit so much in there.”

Klaus almost doesn’t want to know how his stomach looks, doesn’t want to see if it’s as distended as it feels. He can tell that his shirt is riding up, exposing more and more of the lower curve of his gut. He hiccups and motions weakly for the glass of milk on the tray.

Dave carefully holds the glass to his mouth, lets Klaus drink until his hand on Dave’s wrist tells him he’s finished.

“There’s a couple bites left. How do you feel? Do you think you can do it?”

Klaus just nods. His stomach is beyond aching and he’s not sure he’ll be able to swallow it, but he’ll be damned if he leaves two bites on his plate at this point.

The look on Dave’s face when he finishes it off is enough to make it worth it. “Christ, Klaus,” Dave says in an awed voice. “I can’t believe you actually ate it all.” He swallows thickly. “That was amazing. You did so good. Better than I ever expected.”

“How much of the whole pan did I eat?”

“Just over half of it.”

Klaus laughs. “God, I _feel_ like I ate half a pan of lasagna.” He lets his head loll back on the arm of the couch, closing his eyes. “Did I do you proud, Dave?” He means it as a joke, just to tease Dave a little, but he realizes, as he cracks an eye open to see how Dave responds, that he actually wants to know.

“So proud, baby.” Dave’s cheeks flush as he pulls up the hem of Klaus’ shirt and begins to massage around his belly button. “You were amazing, eating like that. Eating so much for me.”

Klaus can’t help the feeling of pride that wells up inside of him. It had seemed so easy to lie back and eat what Dave fed him, and yet he knows he only managed because he wanted to impress Dave so badly. He wants to prove that he can rise to the occasion, that he can be pushed as far as Dave wants to push him. Whatever that might entail in the future. “You know,” Klaus says, “I really wouldn’t mind doing this again. If you wanted to.”

Dave’s eyes go wide, as if he hadn’t dared to consider that possibility. The hand that had been squeezing the dough on his belly goes still. “If we keep doing this you might gain a little weight. Are you okay with that?”

Klaus thinks about it. Being chubby, being _fat_ , has never really been his personal style. But his style here has already been impacted by the clothing that’s available and what a man can get away with in public. Why not live a little and indulge himself? Why not lean in to the changes already happening to his body? Especially when it drives Dave wild the way it does. Especially when it makes Dave fawn over him like this.

“Yeah, I think so,” Klaus says. “I don’t mind gaining some weight for you. Do you want me to get bigger, Dave?”

Dave blushes. “Y-yeah. I’d love to see you get bigger.”

Klaus grins. “Okay,” he says. “Then let’s do it.”


	3. Chapter 3

Klaus is sitting at the table, waiting patiently for breakfast to be ready.

Patiently, Dave knows, only because he’s currently inhaling a bowl of strawberries.

Klaus had called it ‘pre-gaming,’ and Dave had called it evidence of how much Klaus’ appetite has grown over the months.

He had wanted to push Klaus’ capacity, to accustom his stomach to larger and larger quantities of food, until he could eat a feast without breaking a sweat. But Klaus dove into it with more gusto than Dave anticipated, and now his gluttony seems to be insatiable.

Not that Dave has any complaints whatsoever about Klaus becoming such a glutton.

Especially considering the amount of weight it’s put on him.

“Is it ready yet?” Klaus asks.

Dave flips a pancake and glances at Klaus, who’s staring into his bowl as if he won’t be able to cope with reaching the bottom of it.

“Just about. You’re saving room, right?”

“Please, Dave. I always have room.”

Dave smiles, and thinks about the nights they’ve spent stuffing Klaus to his absolute limit, packing his stomach until it was swollen and hard beneath soft fat, until Klaus couldn’t even roll himself over on the couch.

“Okay, okay,” Klaus amends. “I always have room this early in the morning.”

“What I’m hearing is I should start feeding you as soon as you wake up.”

“Mmm,” Klaus hums thoughtfully. He pops another strawberry in his mouth. “Before I even get out of bed?”

Dave could do that. He could have something ready for him before they even went to sleep, waiting right on the bedside table, so all Klaus would have to do is reach over and shovel it in. He should have food available to Klaus in the bedroom anyways, in case he wakes up in the night feeling like he could eat. He does his best to provide Klaus with constant food, but clearly he hasn’t thought of everything yet. Maybe Klaus needs food while he’s in the bathtub too. He easily spends an hour in the bath, and Klaus rarely goes an hour without eating otherwise.

“Dave,” Klaus says. “Dave, I think that pancake is done.”

“Oh, shit.”

“Cover it in syrup and I’ll still eat it,” Klaus says, as Dave shuffles the blackened pancake onto the stack.

“That’s because you’re a pig, Klaus.”

“Well, you made me like this.”

“You’re right. And I’m very proud of myself for that.” Dave puts two of the pancakes on another plate for himself and brings both stacks over to the table.

Klaus’ eyes are wide as he looks up at him. “You’re proud of _me_ too, right, Dave?”

“Of course I’m proud of you.” Dave leans down to kiss the top of his head. “You’ve been so good for me, eating everything I feed you and plumping up so nicely.”

Klaus grins, preening a little, then takes in the enormous stack of pancakes in front of him. “This looks amazing,” he says. “Thank you.”

Dave watches as Klaus begins to inhale his food. He can’t resist admiring how good Klaus looks shoveling food into his mouth. He takes in the roundness to his cheeks, the little bulge of fat beneath Klaus’ chin. He sees how pudgy his arms are getting, how thick his thighs are. Every part of Klaus is so tantalizing, from his plush ass to his love handles to his chest. And that’s to say nothing of the belly in his lap. It’s still soft and doughy now, but as Klaus eats throughout the day it will round outward with his distended stomach.

Dave loves thinking about how heavy all the food sitting in Klaus’ stomach is. He loves the sight of Klaus pinned in his seat by his own swollen stomach. Loves knowing that Klaus’ steady growth will eventually have him dwarfing his chair at the table.

Dave has imagined what it will be like when Klaus starts to struggle with the chair. It’s solidly built, if a little clumsy in craftsmanship, so he knows there’s no chance of Klaus breaking it—not while he’s small enough to fit in it. But his hips are only getting wider and soon enough he’ll be overflowing the seat. He wonders if Klaus would enjoy that, squeezing in and out of the chair, a constant reminder of his own bulk and size. Or if he would prefer to know Dave is already building him a bigger one, a wider one that Klaus can comfortably grow into. Either way, eventually the bigger chair will simply become a necessity, and Dave can’t wait.

Klaus is almost done wolfing down his pancakes when Dave realizes he’s barely started on his own. That’s not unusual though, with how often Dave is entranced by the spectacle of Klaus’ eating. And he knows Klaus will be more than happy to linger at the table, digesting the mountain of food in his stomach while Dave finishes his meal. 

Sure enough, when Klaus is done he just leans back in his chair and stifles a burp before lazily patting his belly. “Delicious, Dave,” he says. “Might need my second course by the time you’re done though.”

Dave makes an involuntary sound in his throat. Klaus just smiles.

He does end up cooking Klaus a second course. He makes hash browns with lots of eggs and bacon, wanting to fill Klaus up with fat and protein after so many sweet pancakes. 

By the time he’s finished, Klaus’ lips are glistening and his belly is noticeably rounder. Dave leaves him at the table to digest a little while he washes the dishes.

“I’m going to go to the gym later,” Dave says, drying his hands on a kitchen towel. “Is there enough for you to eat while I’m gone, or should I pick up some groceries for you first?”

Klaus laughs, just like he always does when Dave mentions the gym. Dave chuckles too, because he loves to see Klaus so delighted, even though he still doesn’t understand what Klaus finds so hilarious about exercise equipment. He knows it doesn’t have to do with his weight, since Klaus had been as tiny as ever the first time he cried laughing at the Sears catalogue. “No, dear,” Klaus says sweetly, “I think there’s plenty of food to keep me busy until you get back.” 

Dave nods, and feels a familiar shock of pleasure at the thought of Klaus making himself fatter while Dave works out.

Klaus pushes himself up from the table then. “I should probably run a load of laundry,” he says. “Speaking of nightmare vintage contraptions.”

“Don’t over-exert yourself,” Dave tells him. “You just had a lot to eat. And I can do the ironing later if you need to lay down.”

Klaus rolls his eyes. “I’m not too fat to stand, Dave.”

“But your belly is so heavy when it’s full. There’s no need for you to be walking around on such a full stomach.”

“You’re playing a dangerous game, you know, telling me a stuffed belly can get me out of housework.”

Dave actually kind of loves to see Klaus doing housework with a stuffed belly. He remembers the times he’s seen Klaus waddling through the living room, a laundry basket on his hip because his stomach was too sensitized to risk rubbing against it. He’s even seen Klaus pant and struggle as he vacuumed the carpet, clutching his swollen belly in one hand while holding the vacuum with the other. There have definitely been some highlights as they worked out the details of how Klaus’ constant state of fullness would coexist with the minutiae of their daily lives. 

But Klaus is getting bigger now, and Dave wants him to get the rest he needs. He wants to keep Klaus as comfortable as possible, so he’ll gain as much as he can from the calories he’s being pumped with. If that means Klaus does fewer chores around the house, Dave can live with that.

“At least come rest on the couch for a while before you start the laundry,” Dave says. “We can watch some TV before I head to the gym.”

“Okay.”

Dave knows it will take a minute for Klaus to shuffle to the living room on a full stomach, so he goes ahead and switches the television on, tweaking an antenna to clear the picture.

He’s just about to go check on Klaus, worried that maybe his stomach was fuller than he realized, when Klaus walks in licking his fingers. 

Dave grins. “Needed a few more bites of something, huh? Come here, big guy.” Dave pulls Klaus down beside him on the couch, hugging an arm possessively around his belly.

“What’s on?” Klaus asks.

“Looks like a Lassie rerun.”

“Do you still think about getting a dog?” Klaus asks.

“Not really,” Dave says, shrugging.

“Why not? I thought you always wanted a pet.”

“Yeah, but the garden is doing so well now. I’d never be able to keep a dog from digging it up.”

“You don’t even want a kitten or something?”

“Nah.” Dave curls his fingers into Klaus’ girth, jiggles his belly as he leans in to peck his cheek. “Got myself a fat little housecat right here.”

Klaus giggles, but then he goes quiet.

“Do you want a pet, Klaus?” he asks.

Klaus shrugs. “I’ve never had one before. It could be fun. But I just thought… maybe you’d want a dog running around. You know, since I mostly stay inside and eat all day.”

Dave sits up a little straighter and looks at Klaus. “I _like_ that you eat all day. You know how much I like it.”

“But I don’t exactly fit into your active lifestyle, do I?”

“Believe me,” he says, spreading a palm over the dome of Klaus’ stomach. “I’m more than okay with that.” His hand slips beneath Klaus’ shirt, begins to slide along the curve of his belly. “I love knowing you’re stuffing yourself while I’m working out, that I’m going to come back from the gym and find you too full to move. Sometimes all I can think about while I’m there is how you’re here at home, eating and eating and eating for me.”

Klaus’ breath hitches, and a whine rises in his throat. 

“Besides, I have to be in good shape so I can take care of you, don’t I?”

“I guess that’s true. I’m getting so heavy.” Klaus shifts closer as he leans toward Dave. The change in position causes his belly to roll forward, falling into Dave’s lap.

Dave gasps as he feels the weight of it settle over his groin, and he can’t help reaching for it, taking Klaus’ bulk into his hands. “So round and gorgeous,” he mumbles, right before Klaus tilts his head up to kiss him. 

He tastes like bacon and syrup, and Dave feels a wave of satisfaction wash over him. Klaus has plenty to eat because of him. Klaus is so well-nourished and well-fed because Dave makes sure he has all the food he could possibly need. He gives him more than he could possibly want even, enough to make Klaus fat and round and heavy with the excess.

And Klaus eats so well for him, loves to please him with clean plates and insatiable pleas for more. He can tell Klaus loves making Dave proud, loves it almost as much as he loves eating. And he does love eating, because no amount of food could’ve gotten Klaus to this point if he didn’t truly love stuffing himself with it, swallowing down as much as he could, testing the limits of his gluttony.

Dave kisses him again, and begins to nudge Klaus back until he’s lying on the couch with Dave leaning over him. He pushes Klaus’ shirt up, takes a big handful of his belly, squeezes as Klaus moans into his mouth. 

He’s so lucky to have Klaus, Dave thinks, now sliding his hand up to cup Klaus’ chest. He couldn’t have gotten any luckier.


	4. Chapter 4

Klaus is in the garden when Dave gets home from work, squatting down low to rifle beneath the leaves in the cucumber patch. There’s a few cucumbers already stacked nearby in the grass, and a pile of tomatoes beside them.

Klaus must’ve heard him come out, because he straightens up and turns around. “Hey, babe,” he smiles. “Did you sell a lot of hammers today?”

“A few,” Dave says absently, taking in the flush to Klaus’ cheeks, the light sheen of sweat on his forehead. “What are you up to?” he asks.

“Just picking the vegetables for you.” Klaus uses the cucumber in his hand to gesture to the garden bed. ”There’s a ton of cucumbers down there. I could make a joke about how I’ve never seen so many phallic objects in one place, but… unfortunately it wouldn’t be factually accurate.”

Dave laughs. “Well, thank you. For picking the vegetables, I mean. That was sweet of you.”

Klaus looks at him, tilts his head. “But?”

Dave hesitates a moment. “It’s just that you’re looking a little pink, Klaus. You should probably come in and have some water.” 

“I’ve only been out for like ten minutes.”

“But the gardening is a lot of work,” Dave says, frowning. “I don’t want you to get heatstroke out here.”

Klaus plants his hands on his hips, the way he does when he’s all sass and no real ire. “Here? In Indiana?” he demands. “Do you remember marching together through actual jungles in Vietnam? Mud up to our knees, packs so heavy I used to tip over and fall flat on my back?”

“That was before—”

“Before I got fat?”

“I meant before we made it back home,” Dave says. “Before we bought the house so we could have a normal life again. We’re not soldiers anymore; we’ve gone soft. Literally, for you, because, yeah, you’re a lot bigger now than you were then.”

“I’m not too big to do the gardening.”

Dave smiles softly. “I know. I just worry because sometimes you don’t know your limits, babe.”

Klaus huffs. “Is this because I got stuck in the window? Because you said you thought that was sexy.”

“It’s not because of the window,” Dave tells him. “And it _was_ sexy.”

Klaus hadn’t even really been stuck—he was still trying to squeeze through when Dave walked by and saw him. Apparently the sash had jammed as he opened it, but Klaus was determined to wiggle through anyways since he’d already dragged over a crate to stand on.

All Dave could think of was Winnie the Pooh stuck in the front door of Rabbit’s house. Klaus had looked every bit as silly, stuffed in the window like he was, especially since he could’ve just come around to the door and asked to be let in. But Dave didn’t laugh when he saw him, because there was the part of him that had grown up reading that passage in his storybook over and over until the pages wore soft and thin. That part of him could only stare dumbly until Klaus demanded he help him already, dammit.

“I just don’t want you to get too hot out here,” Dave says weakly.

Klaus is suddenly looking at him like he understands more than Dave is saying, maybe even more than Dave understands himself. “You get really hung up on this kind of stuff, don’t you?”

“What stuff?”

“When I think I can do something but I can’t, or it’s harder than I thought it would be, because of my size.”

Dave winces, because it’s true, and also because it does something to him to hear Klaus say it out loud.

“It’s sweet that you’re so protective,” Klaus continues. “And I guess you did sink a lot of time and money into fattening me up, huh? I can see why you want to watch out for me.”

“I just want you to be more careful,” Dave says. “And I want you to come inside and cool down.”

“Are you going to pour me an ice cold glass of lemonade? Because I’ve seen that one, Dave, I know what happens next.”

“What happens next?”

“You fuck me senseless.”

“Oh.”

He does pour Klaus a glass of lemonade. He refills it once, then twice.

Klaus drains his third glass, then puts it in the sink before Dave can pour him any more. His gut makes an audible sloshing sound as he returns to the table.

Dave’s breath hitches when he hears it. He forgets sometimes, so caught up in packing Klaus full of heavy food, that it’s delightful to have him full of liquid too.

But Klaus grimaces, rubbing his stomach. “No more lemonade or we won’t be able to fulfill the second half of your duties.”

“Are you sure it wasn’t too much?”

“I’ll be fine after I piss.”

Klaus disappears into the bathroom while Dave goes to the bedroom to take off his work clothes. He considers putting something else on instead, just so Klaus can peel it off of him, but he knows that Klaus usually prefers not to bother with the hindrance of clothing at all. Dave is the one who loves undressing Klaus, revealing his body inch by inch, watching how his shape changes as his clothes come off.

Klaus knows this, so he comes out of the bathroom still wearing his T-shirt and underwear. “There was no way I was going to put those pants back on,” he says. “It felt too good to take them off.”

“We probably need to get you into the next size up,” Dave says, putting his hands on Klaus’ waist, assessing his width. “I don’t want you to be uncomfortable.”

“Always so thoughtful,” Klaus hums, letting Dave pull him closer. Dave hooks his thumbs into the waistband of Klaus’ briefs, begins to drag them down over his hips. “Anyways, I’m all ready for you,” Klaus says, dropping his voice to a huskier tone that goes straight to Dave’s dick. “I’ll be forthright; I prepared myself earlier in the hope that I’d have the opportunity to seduce you.”

Dave ducks his head to kiss over Klaus’ shoulder. He grins when Klaus lets out a little whine. “And what were you going to do if the opportunity didn’t present itself?”

“Oh, well, you know those cucumbers I picked earlier?”

Dave snorts a laugh.

“Kidding, kidding,” Klaus says, distantly, because Dave is kissing along his collarbone. His breath hitches when Dave opens his mouth to taste the sweat and sun on his skin.

“Sure you are,” Dave says. His lips are on Klaus’ neck now, mouthing up to his jaw. Klaus rolls his head to the side and Dave bites lightly at the softness beneath his chin.

“ _Dave_ ,” Klaus says. He presses closer, putting his arms around Dave, letting his hands slide over Dave’s back. 

Months and months ago they would’ve been chest to chest like this, with Klaus’ scrawny figure flush against Dave’s body. Now Klaus’ round belly hangs between them, pushing them apart, making it impossible to ignore the fact that he fills up Dave’s arms when they wrap around him. “So big,” Dave murmurs, still kissing his jaw. “You’ve been such a good boy for me, blowing up like this. Eating like you do, all for me.”

Klaus whimpers helplessly, the way he always does at Dave’s praise. He rolls his hips forward, letting his belly grind against Dave’s erection.

“God,” Dave breathes. “Can’t wait to fuck you, Klaus.”

Klaus flashes him a mischievous grin. “I thought you might like it if _I_ did all the work tonight,” he purrs, starting to walk Dave backwards towards the bed. “I might be getting too big for gardening and housework, but I can still blow your mind, baby.”

Dave goes willingly, helplessly, lying back on the mattress as Klaus climbs on top of him. He instinctively reaches for Klaus’ thick thighs, savoring the way they hug his trim waist as Klaus settles over his hips. Then Klaus lets him take his full weight, and Dave nearly chokes on a moan at the feeling of being pinned beneath his bulk.

“You want me that bad, huh?” Klaus looks down at him coyly. “I’m so fat I’m practically crushing you right now, and you still want me?”

“You’re not even close to crushing me,” Dave says, grabbing onto Klaus’ hips, letting his thumbs push into soft skin. “And I’ll always want you, baby.” He lets his fingers slip beneath the hem of Klaus’ shirt, drawing it up enough to expose the lower curve of his belly. “Take this off,” he tells Klaus. “Let me see how much of you there is.”

Klaus does as he’s told, reaching down to drag the hem of his shirt up, slowly revealing more and more skin until the rest of his belly bounces free. Dave can’t help the gasp that escapes as he watches Klaus’ belly mound on top of his fat thighs. There’s something so sexy about the way their bodies look together, the contrast between Klaus’ doughy belly and Dave’s own taut, muscled stomach. He loves knowing he’s strong and fit enough to take care of Klaus, that he can make sure Klaus wants for nothing as he gets bigger and needier.

Klaus just smirks down at him and drops the shirt on the floor. “Hand me the lube,” he says.

Dave fumbles at the bedside, drops the bottle into Klaus’ open palm. He watches Klaus squirt himself a handful and toss the bottle aside. Then Klaus shifts onto his knees, leaning over Dave with a hand braced on the mattress while his other hand snakes back to his entrance. 

The change in position causes his belly to drop heavily onto Dave’s stomach. Dave lets out a moan at the weight of it, the feeling of being blanketed by Klaus’ girth. Then Klaus leans further down to kiss him, and his soft belly spreads and squishes against Dave’s abs. Dave kisses back hungrily, desperately, rolling his hips up just to feel the way Klaus’ fat yields to his hard body.

He remembers when Klaus was made entirely of angles and sharp lines and hard, solid planes. It wasn’t _bad_ back then, because it was still Klaus, his Klaus, and Dave would’ve never thought to hope for anything else. But this Klaus is his too, and this Klaus is so amazingly fat, so big and heavy as he straddles his waist. Dave still can’t believe he had the opportunity to make him this way, or that Klaus had embraced it, enjoyed it, helped to take it further than Dave would’ve ever dared.

And now Klaus is lifting himself up, expertly guiding Dave’s cock to his entrance, slowly sinking down onto him. 

“Fuck,” Dave gasps, as the heat of Klaus’ body engulfs him. “God, Klaus, you feel so good.”

Klaus is concentrating hard on the task at hand, but he spares Dave a satisfied little smile as he lowers himself down, impaling himself fully on Dave’s cock.

“Oh, fuck,” Dave moans, screwing his eyes shut. The sensation of being so deep inside Klaus, feeling how hot and tight he is, combined with the heaviness of Klaus’ body on top of his, is overwhelming. And when Klaus pushes himself up and sinks so heavily back down, Dave just about sees stars. All he can do is groan as Klaus begins to move on top of him, shifting his hips in search of the perfect angle.

Klaus must find it, because he shudders and bites back a moan. He starts moving more rhythmically then, striking up a steady pace that has Dave fisting his hands in the bedsheets.

Dave forces his eyes open, eager to see the way Klaus’ body moves as he rides him. His thighs quake and his chest bounces, even his round cheeks seem to jounce. It's enough to make Dave feel weak, and yet it doesn't compare to the sight of Klaus’ round belly, wobbling and jiggling uncontrollably only inches from his face. Dave can’t help reaching for it, running his hands over the smooth skin, slipping his fingers into the creases along his sides. He glances up to see how Klaus is responding to his ministrations, and that’s when he realizes how hard he’s breathing.

Klaus is panting like he’s running a marathon. One that he clearly didn’t train for.

Dave should tell him to slow down, should offer to change the position. But he doesn’t, because his brain is short-circuiting from the fact that Klaus is out of breath from riding his dick.

He knows he’s kept Klaus healthy enough despite his weight, making sure he eats his fruits and vegetables alongside huge portions of ice cream and pasta. But he’s also encouraged Klaus’ laziness, preferring to keep him in bed or on the couch or at the table where he’ll expend the least amount of energy. And he’d be lying if he said he didn’t get a thrill from watching Klaus’ loping gait slowly develop into a waddle, or from the fact that getting up from the couch and rolling over in bed has begun to require more effort. And now, as he watches Klaus tip his head back, his eyes pinched shut as he sucks down lungfuls of air, he’d be lying if he said it wasn’t really fucking hot to see how out of shape Klaus has gotten.

Dave really doubts Klaus will be able to ride him to completion. He knows he should just flip them over, let Klaus catch his breath while Dave fucks into him nice and slow and gentle. Hell, he shouldn’t even want Klaus to be doing anything this close to exercise anyways, not if he wants to keep all that fat on him, keep him so big he struggles like this just from being on top. But Dave can’t take his eyes off the look of intermingled exhaustion and determination on Klaus’ face.

He’s too enamored with the fact that Klaus is pushing himself so hard to please him, the way he did when Dave first started feeding him up, the way he still does when Dave stuffs him with ever-increasing amounts of food. It’s too heady a feeling, knowing he has such sway over Klaus, that Klaus is willing to work so hard to give him what he wants.

“You’re doing so good, baby,” he finds himself saying. “You’re so big, Klaus, I know it’s not easy for you. But I’m so proud of how hard you’re working.”

“Dave,” Klaus gasps. Dave can tell by the way he shudders around his cock that it’s exactly what he wanted to hear. Klaus manages to pick up his faltering pace, riding Dave a little harder despite his panting, grinding down with a new desperation. “It’s… it’s a lot of work.”

“I know, sweetheart.” Dave thrusts up as Klaus bears down, bucking into him, minimizing the effort it takes for Klaus to sink onto him. “But you’re such a good boy, wanting to please me so badly. Keep going, let me see how hard my big boy works for me.”

“I’m so out of shape,” Klaus breathes. “Should be embarrassed. Such a pig, trying to fuck a guy with a six-pack.”

“Don’t be embarrassed,” Dave says. “I wanted you this way, remember? I couldn’t be happier with you.”

Klaus lets out a whine, muscles clenching. His breathing is more labored than ever but he somehow starts working harder, sinking heavily onto Dave, making his whole body quiver and jiggle with the effort. Dave is getting closer, and he’s starting to think Klaus might actually succeed in getting him off, but then Klaus’ pace starts to slow again.

“Let me put you on your back,” Dave says soothingly, taking in the flushed sheen to Klaus’ heaving chest. “I’ll fuck you so gently, give you what you deserve for working so hard.”

Klaus whimpers at the thought, but he keeps grinding weakly on top of him. “I can do it,” he says. “I can finish you off.”

“No, you can’t,” Dave says, and he thinks telling Klaus that he can’t, that he’s too heavy and out of shape to ride him, might be even better than watching him try. “You’re just too big now, baby.”

“Okay,” Klaus says, and he finally slows to a stop. “Okay, okay.” He takes a few deep breaths, then shakes his head. “You’re right, I can’t. Not unless you’re going to come like, right now.”

“That’s all right,” Dave says, rubbing his thighs comfortingly. “It was amazing just watching you try so hard.”

“It’s because of my belly,” Klaus pouts, patting the swell of his stomach. “It’s too heavy.”

“I’m sure it didn’t help that I gave you all that lemonade.”

“This began way before the lemonade, Dave. My entire body is your fault.”

“Your entire body is stunning.” Dave nudges Klaus over, shifting him onto his back on the bed. He moves between Klaus’ outspread legs and looks him over. “This belly is gorgeous,” he says, leaning down to kiss the curve of Klaus’ stomach. “It drives me crazy knowing I put this on you. That you piled on all this weight for me.”

Dave can practically see the comeback rising in Klaus’ throat, so he puts his mouth to Klaus’ stomach again, making Klaus gasp instead. “All this blubber,” Dave continues, mouthing over Klaus’ belly, alternating between kisses and sucks and bites. “So beautiful.” He squeezes Klaus’ belly in his hands, mounds it up around his cheeks, noses against the soft flesh. Then he lets it fall, watches it wobble as it settles back into place.

Klaus gasps at the feeling of his own body moving uncontrollably around him, then takes his belly in his hands, shaking it himself. “Well, it’s all yours, baby.” 

“Fuck, Klaus,” Dave moans, watching Klaus’ hands squeeze his own bulk. “Love your belly so much.” He can’t help kissing over the soft skin again, circling the cavern of Klaus’ navel, letting his tongue swirl around Klaus’ belly button.

“Oh, that-that feels good,” Klaus says weakly, arching back on the bed so his belly pushes into Dave’s face. “K-keep going.”

Dave acquiesces, grazing his teeth down the bulge of Klaus’ lower belly before licking his way up to Klaus’ navel. He reaches beneath his underbelly to wrap a hand around Klaus’ cock, begins to work him in his fist as he mouths over Klaus’ stomach. He pushes his tongue into Klaus’ belly button, making Klaus squirm helplessly.

The desperate little sounds he’s making, the way he’s bucking into Dave’s hand and face alike, is enough to make Dave reach for his own cock. He jacks them both off together, keeping his mouth on Klaus’ belly, licking deeper into his navel.

“Dave,” Klaus moans. “ _Dave_ , fuck.” And then he comes, shooting helplessly into Dave’s hand, whimpering as Dave milks him through it. 

Dave comes a second later, from the look of exhausted ecstasy on Klaus’ face, or maybe just from the fact that Klaus liked the attention to his belly button so much. He shoots all over Klaus’ belly, and then lets himself pitch forward onto the mattress. “Christ,” he says, his voice muffled by the sheets.

“Yeah,” Klaus agrees. His breathing is starting to even out now, almost back to normal. He produces a handkerchief to wipe off his stomach, then hands it to Dave.

Dave slides the handkerchief beneath Klaus’ belly, wiping away his orgasm before balling it up to toss aside. He settles onto his side then, propped up on an elbow, and leans over to press kisses along Klaus’ chubby upper arm.

“That tickles,” Klaus giggles, squirming. He gives Dave a playful shove to the shoulder, then lets his hand drape over the swell of his belly. Dave reaches out to twine their fingers together.

“So, did that go how you wanted it to?” Dave asks.

“What? The sex?”

“Yeah,” he says. “You said you wanted to do all the work, but things didn’t really pan out that way, did they?” Dave doesn’t really know why he’s bringing it up, except maybe just to hear how Klaus feels about it, if he’s afraid he underperformed by not giving Dave what he promised. Because Lord knows what Dave ended up getting was so much better, and Klaus should know how much he enjoyed it.

But Klaus is turning onto his side to face him, giving him the wide-eyed look of innocence that usually means he’s up to something. “Are you implying I would get on top knowing full well I’m too big to get you off like that?”

“That’s not what I said.”

“And that I would do it anyways just to turn you on?”

“What?”

“And that I would _torture_ myself with physical exertion just to play out a fantasy you didn’t even know you had?”

Dave huffs a laugh. “Klaus, you little shit.”

“If that’s what you’re implying,” Klaus says, grinning, “then, yes, I guess you could say it went pretty much exactly how I wanted. What about you? Was it what you wanted?”

Dave nods. “ _Exactly_ what I wanted.”

“Good,” Klaus says. “So we’re on the same page.” He sounds blasé, but Dave catches the self-satisfied look on his face before he pushes himself up in the bed. “Anyways, I could really use a snack after that.” He leans over and starts rummaging through the drawer in the bedside table. “Thought you said you were gonna start putting Twinkies in here for me.”

“Shit, I haven’t yet,” Dave says, frowning. “Let me go get you something. I’ll make you a sandwich, okay? You should really have something more substantial anyways.” He starts to get out of bed, but Klaus pulls him back down.

“Hey, hey, not so fast. Stay for a little bit longer. I won’t waste away.”

“But—”

“I’m still trying to enjoy the afterglow here, Dave.”

“Okay,” Dave says, settling back down. “But you’re going to eat two sandwiches for me later.”

“Deal.”

Dave nods and pulls Klaus closer, gathering him into his arms. He presses a kiss to the top of his head, and makes a mental note to remember snacks for the bedside table. It’s quiet for a while, and then he asks, “do you ever wonder what we did to deserve the life we have? Strawberries growing in the garden, a warm bed, you and me together?”

Klaus shrugs, as if it would never occur to him to question it. “I don’t think it’s about deserving it or not,” he says after a minute. “The universe is senseless and random, and you’ll drive yourself crazy if you think like that. We just have to be grateful for what we have, you know?”

“That’s deep, Klaus.”

“Well, I am a very deep and philosophical soul.”

Dave laughs, and the smile stays on his face as the rumble in his chest fades away. “We’re happy, aren’t we?”

“Ridiculously so.”

“I’m glad.”

Klaus lifts his head up, pecks him on the cheek. “Me too.”


End file.
